UNION CITY, Calif., July 1, 2014– Abaxis, Inc. (NasdaqGS: ABAX), a medical products company manufacturing point-of-care blood analysis systems for both the medical and veterinary markets, today announced that the Center for Veterinary Biologicals of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved its VetScan Canine Ehrlichia Antibody Test Kit for use in rapid detection of canine Ehrlichia.

Each test can be purchased on an individual basis so that each practitioner has the flexibility to decide which tests to use based on such factors as the history and presentation of the patient as well as the incidence of a particular disease in his or her geographic area. This is the only test approved for detection of antibodies to all three dominant species impacting dogs in the US: E. canis., E. chafeensis and E. ewingii. As a result this improves the efficiency and the economics of carrying out such testing on these vector-borne diseases.”

Dr. Craig Tockman, vice president of sales and marketing for North American Animal Health of Abaxis, added, “This approval represents an important development in Abaxis’ ongoing program to provide veterinary professionals a wider range of diagnostic options suited to the geographic locations in which they practice. Because of the regional distribution of all the tickborne diseases, the VetScan Canine Ehrlichia Antibody Test Kit, which employs a patent-protected method of detecting antibodies reactive to outer membrane proteins of the Ehrlichia bacteria, will be an important new product in providing regionally appropriate diagnostic capabilities that can produce improved patient outcomes in a timely and cost-efficient manner.”

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What is Erlichia?

“Ehrlichiosis (/ˌɛərlɨkiˈoʊsɨs/; also known as canine rickettsiosis, canine hemorrhagic fever, canine typhus, tracker dog disease, dog AIDS and tropical canine pancytopenia is a tick-borne disease of dogs usually caused by the organism Ehrlichia canis. Ehrlichia canis is the pathogen of animals. Humans can become infected by E. canis and other species after tick exposure. German Shepherd Dogs are thought to be susceptible to a particularly severe form of the disease, other breeds generally have milder clinical signs. Cats can also be infected.” To Read more, Click Here

Signs and Symptoms of Ehrlichiosis
The symptoms and severity of illness seen with ehrlichiosis depends on the species of Ehrlichia involved and the immune response of the dog. Generally, Erlichia canis appears to produce the most severe illness, and infections tend to progress through various stages.

The acute phase occurs within the first few weeks of being infected and is rarely fatal. Recovery can occur, or the dog can enter a “subclinical phase” which can last for years, where there are no symptoms. Some dogs, but not all, eventually progress to the chronic phase, where very severe illness can develop. However, in practice is is difficult to distinguish these phases.

Abaxis develops, manufactures, markets and sells portable blood analysis systems for use in any veterinary or human patient-care setting to provide clinicians with rapid blood constituent measurements. The system consists of a compact, 5.1 kilogram (11.2 pounds), portable analyzer and a series of single-use plastic discs, called reagent discs, that contain all the chemicals required to perform a panel of up to 13 tests on veterinary patients and 14 tests on human patients. The system can be operated with minimal training and performs multiple routine tests on whole blood, serum or plasma samples. The system provides test results in less than 12 minutes with the precision and accuracy equivalent to a clinical laboratory analyzer. The veterinary business also provides to the animal health and research market a line of hematology instruments for point-of-care complete blood counts (CBC), a specialty instrument to screen for and detect clotting disorders and to measure equine fibrinogen levels, a handheld instrument for the rapid assessment of certain critical care tests and rapid point-of-care tests for Heartworm infections, Parvovirus, Giardia and Lyme disease.

Abaxis, through its AVRL division, provides routine laboratory testing as well as specialty testing for veterinarians nationwide. For more information, visit http://www.abaxis.com.

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I've been an animal rescuer and advocate since forever! I remember bringing home every size, breed, type of animal, bird, reptile to my parent's house--and then carried it over to my adult life. When I saw there was a need to help disabled animals, I co-founded the Rescue Ranch in Houston (http://hopeformany.org) and need angels to help with some of the supplies/wish list items. I've been writing the Pet's blog for the Houston Chronicle since 2008 after 15 years of writing for newspapers and magazines as well as rescuing/advocating for animals. I hope you join me there, too: http://blog.chron.com /fromunderthebridge. Hugs from the Herd! (Our baby, Mebbie or Mebs, is this blog's mascot. She is the reason that so many have lived. Sending kisses to heaven...)